Men's Tennis

Summit League Tennis Championships Preview

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The 2013 Summit League Tennis Championships begin Friday at the Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Tennis Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Men's semifinal matches open the tournament at 10 a.m. (EDT) before the women get underway at 1 p.m..

Friday's first men's semifinal pairs top-seeded and two-time defending champion Kansas City against No. 4 Fort Wayne (10 a.m. EDT) ahead of the second semi featuring No. 2 seed South Dakota State and No. 3 seed IUPUI (4 p.m.). The winners of Friday's matches will meet Saturday at 10 a.m. for the men's championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Women's semifinal play begins with host and top-seed Fort Wayne against No. 4 seed South Dakota, which is making its first tournament appearance (1 p.m.). The other semi pits No. 2 Kansas City against No. 3 South Dakota State, also making its first appearance (7 p.m.). The winners of Friday's matches will meet Saturday at 1 p.m. for the women's championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The host Mastodons claimed their fourth regular season league title in the past five years and are seeking their third tournament title in four years … IPFW enters the tournament riding a 15-match win streak and owns a league-best 21 overall victories … Five of the 'Dons six singles players own the top overall winning percentage at their positions and four-of-six hold the best league win percentage … Anita Henestrosa compiled a Summit League best 7-0 mark at No. 1 singles … Caterina Kiefer (3-0 at No. 2), Miloslava Shustova (4-1 at No. 4) and Theresa Neumeyr (3-0 at No. 5) all posted league-best records … All three of IPFW's doubles teams went 6-0 in Summit League play.
#2 Seed Kansas City (10-13 overall, 6-1 Summit League) Regular Season Titles: None Best Championship Finish: 2nd (2011) Tournament Titles: None Against the 2013 Field: 2-1 (W, 4-3 vs. South Dakota State; L, 0-4 vs. Fort Wayne; W, 4-1 vs. South Dakota)

Kansas City earned its highest seed in school history and will be looking to make its second overall championship match appearance … The Kangaroos enter the tournament having won five of their last six matches … Laura Bouet posted a team-best 6-1 Summit League record at the No. 1 singles position … Dimitra Stavrianakou went 5-1 at the No. 2 and 3 singles position during league play … Eva Dalvai tied for a league-best 3-0 record at No. 3 singles … The 'Roos top doubles tandem, Bouet and Dalvai at No. 1, posted a 4-2 record against Summit opposition.

The Jackrabbits earned their first Summit League Tournament berth by posting the best overall and league records in South Dakota State's Division I history … SDSU enters the tournament riding a season-best seven-match win streak, including five-straight Summit League victories … Ffion Davies went 12-2 overall at No. 2 singles and 4-1 against league opponents … Tacy Haws-Lay owns a team-best 6-1 singles record at the No. 5 position … Beatriz Souza tied for the best league record at No. 4 singles with a 4-1 mark … Davies and Haws-Lay each finished with the second-best league record at their positions … The Jacks top doubles tandem, Jenny Blackburne and Davies, compiled a 4-1 record against league foes.

The Coyotes are making their Summit League Tournament debut in their second season … USD enters the tournament having won four of its last five matches and nine of its last 12 … Yamini Reddy combined for a 16-3 overall record and a league-best 3-0 mark in Summit matches at No. 6 singles … Hafsa Laraibi at No. 3 singles and Veronika Makashov at No. 5 singles each posted 4-1 league records … The 'Yotes No. 2 doubles tandem of Michelle Elkin and Laraibi went 3-0 against Summit League competition.

The Kangaroos look to become the first team since 2005 to win three-consecutive tournament titles … UMKC went unbeaten in Summit League play for the third time in the past four seasons … The 'Roos enter the tournament riding a season-best five-match win streak and have won 10 of their last 13 matches … Abdulrahman Alawadi and Grant Fleming each combined for 5-0 singles records against Summit League foes … Nino Hasandedic, the 2011 Summit League Player of the Year, went 3-1 versus Summit League opposition at No. 1 singles … Fleming and Tomas Patino, last year's Summit League Newcomer of the Year, posted a league-best 4-0 record against Summit competition at No. 1 doubles.

The Jackrabbits earned their highest seed in school history one year after reaching their first Summit League Tournament … SDSU enters the tournament riding a season-best five-match win streak and have won eight of its last 10 … Parker Lawley leads the team with a 4-0 league singles record … He tied for The Summit League lead with a 3-0 record at No. 2 … Andrea Boglić went 2-2 at No. 1 singles … Henrique Pereira compiled a 3-1 record at No. 4 singles … James Thorp went 2-1 at the No. 5 position … Both SDSU's No. 1 doubles tandem of Boglić and Lawley and the No. 2 duo Mateus Moreira and Thorp went 3-1 against league competition … Pereira and Lucas Pereira posted a 4-1 mark against league foes at No. 3 doubles.

The Jaguars have finished as runner-up at each of the last two Summit League Championships … Jason Jaruvang went a league-best 5-0 against Summit League opponents at No. 1 singles … Nick Volz went 3-1 against Summit League foes at No. 2 singles and 3-2 in league singles matches … Armaan Choudhary compiled a 3-1 record vs. league opposition at No. 5 singles … Jake Hedderig and Jaruvang posted a 4-1 No. 3 doubles record in Summit League matches.

The Mastodons are serving as tournament host, after doing so in 2009 when they also qualified … Gerard Guell compiled IPFW's best Summit League record with a 3-0 mark at No. 6 singles … Andres Cobos finished league play with a 2-2 record at No. 3 … Joao Freitas and Daniel Kang posted a 3-2 league mark at No. 1 doubles … Connor Andrews and Martin Muadi teamed for a 3-0 league record at No. 2 doubles.